EMERGENCY WARNING SYSTEMS: WAYS TO NOTIFY THE PUBLIC IN THE NEW ERA OF HOMELAND SECURITY HEARING OF THE SUBCOMMITEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE BEFORE THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SEPTEMBER 22, 2004 Serial No. 108–58 Printed for the use of the Select Committee on Homeland Security ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/index.html U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 26–275 PDF WASHINGTON : 2006 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 SELECT COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY CHRISTOPHER COX, California, Chairman JENNIFER DUNN, Washington JIM TURNER, Texas, Ranking Member C.W. BILL YOUNG, Florida BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi DON YOUNG, Alaska LORETTA SANCHEZ, California F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., Wisconsin EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts DAVID DREIER, California NORMAN D. DICKS, Washington DUNCAN HUNTER, California BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky JANE HARMAN, California SHERWOOD BOEHLERT, New York BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland JOE BARTON, Texas LOUISE MCINTOSH SLAUGHTER, New York LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas PETER A. DEFAZIO, Oregon CURT WELDON, Pennsylvania NITA M. LOWEY, New York CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey PORTER J. GOSS, Florida ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of DAVE CAMP, Michigan Columbia LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART, Florida ZOE LOFGREN, California BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia KAREN MCCARTHY, Missouri ERNEST J. ISTOOK, JR., Oklahoma SHEILA JACKSON-LEE, Texas PETER T. KING, New York BILL PASCRELL, JR., New Jersey JOHN LINDER, Georgia DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN, U.S. Virgin Islands JOHN B. SHADEGG, Arizona BOB ETHERIDGE, North Carolina MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana KEN LUCAS, Kentucky MAC THORNBERRY, Texas JAMES R. LANGEVIN, Rhode Island JIM GIBBONS, Nevada KENDRICK B. MEEK, Florida KAY GRANGER, Texas BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky PETE SESSIONS, Texas JOHN E. SWEENEY, New York JOHN GANNON, Chief of Staff STEPHEN DEVINE, Deputy Staff Director and General Counsel THOMAS DILENGE, Chief Counsel and Policy Director DAVID H. SCHANZER, Democrat Staff Director MARK T. MAGEE, Democrat Deputy Staff Director MICHAEL S. TWINCHEK, Chief Clerk SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE JOHN SHADEGG, Arizona, Chairman CURT WELDON, Pennsylvania BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi, Ranking W.J. ‘‘BILLY’’ TAUZIN, Louisiana Member CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut JANE HARMAN, California DAVE CAMP, Michigan BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART, Florida PETER A. DEFAZIO, Oregon PETER KING, New York NITA M. LOWEY, New York MARK SOUDER, Indiana ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of MAC THORNBERRY, Texas Columbia JIM GIBBONS, Nevada BILL PASCRELL, JR., New Jersey KAY GRANGER, Texas DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN, U.S. Virgin Islands PETE SESSIONS, Texas BOB ETHERIDGE, North Carolina CHRISTOPHER COX, California, ex officio KEN LUCAS, Kentucky JIM TURNER, Texas, ex officio (II) C O N T E N T S Page STATEMENTS The Honorable John B. Shadegg, a Representative in Congress From the State Arizona, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness and Response ........................................................................................................ 1 The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness and Response ............................................................ 2 The Honorable Christopher Cox, a Representative in Congress From the State of California, and Chairman, Select Committee on Homeland Security 3 The Honorable Jim Turner, a Representative in Congress From the State of Texas, and Ranking Member, Select Committee on Homeland Security .... 22 The Honorable Bob Etheridge, a Representative in Congress From the State of North Carolina ................................................................................................. 25 The Honorable Nita M. Lowey, a Representative in Congress From the State of New York .......................................................................................................... 31 The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Delegate in Congress From the District of Columbia ............................................................................................. 33 The Honorable Curt Weldon, a Representative in Congress From the State of Pennsylvania .................................................................................................... 27 WITNESSES PANEL I Mr. James. Dailey, Director of Homeland Security, Federal Communications Commission: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 8 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 10 Mr. Kathleen Henning, Certified Emergency Manager, International Association of Emergency Management: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 13 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 15 Mr. Reynold N. Hoover, Director of National Security Coordination, Department of Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 5 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 7 PANEL II Ms. Patricia McGinnis, President and CEO, Council for Excellence in Government: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 51 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 53 Mr. Frank Lucia, Vice Chairman, Washington, D.C. Emergency Alert System Committee Member, Public Communications & Safety Working Group, Media Security and Reliability Council: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 45 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 47 Dr. Peter L. Ward, Founding Chairman, Partnership for Public Warning, U.S. Geological Survey (Retired): Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 35 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 37 (III) IV Page FOR THE RECORD Mr. Reynold Hoover Responses to Questions ........................................................ 63 Mr. Frank Lucia Responses to Questions .............................................................. 84 Ms. Patricia McGinnis Responses to Questions .................................................... 65 Dr. Peter Ward Responses to Questions ................................................................ 68 EMERGENCY WARNING SYSTEMS: WAYS TO NOTIFY THE PUBLIC IN THE NEW ERA OF HOMELAND SECURITY Wednesday, September 22, 2004 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SELECT COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY, SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:08 a.m., in Room 2261, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. John Shadegg [chair- man of the subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives Shadegg, Weldon, Camp, Cox (ex offi- cio), Thompson, DeFazio, Lowey, Norton, Etheridge, Lucas and Turner (ex officio). Mr. SHADEGG. Good morning. The committee will come to order. I would like to ask unanimous consent that opening statements be limited to the subcommittee and full committee chairman and the ranking members of the subcommittee and the full committee. Is there any objection? Without objection, so ordered. You may not be aware of this, but September is National Pre- paredness Month, an effort to heighten the importance of American families and businesses to be better prepared for emergencies, es- pecially in this new era of Homeland Security. As a part of that effort, today we will be focusing on the emergency warnings com- munication system, that is, how we can get the best information to the public on what steps they should take to protect themselves in the event of an emergency. You know, it was Paul Revere and his partner who is less well known, Robert Newman, who pioneered unknowingly the first emergency warning system in our country. Newman was the indi- vidual who hung lanterns. Of course, Paul Revere was the one who made the famous ride. One if by land and two if by sea, as well as a midnight ride warning that the British were coming, were ef- fective means of spreading the word in the 18th century. However, in the 21st century, in a new war on terrorism and a new era of Homeland Security and technology, we must look at the most mod- ern and effective ways to get emergency warnings to our citizenry. Consider, for example, these statistics. There are 169 million cell phone users in the United States. There are 28 million high-speed Internet lines always on. There are 107 million households, well over 90 percent of those in the country, that have telephone serv- (1) 2 ice, and there are over 11 million paging units in service. More and more, technology is becoming ubiquitous, and